Camp Mystic under criminal investigation over 27 flood deaths, records show

Texas Rangers have opened a criminal investigation into Camp Mystic, the girls' summer camp where 27 people died in flooding last year, according to court documents. Search warrant applications show investigators are seeking evidence that could support charges including manslaughter, negligent homicide or child abandonment against the camp's owners.

In warrants executed last week, investigators sought the electronic communications of camp owners. Ranger Brant Johnston wrote in an affidavit that Camp Mystic had inadequate emergency plans, never conducted evacuation drills, and left some cabins without enough adult supervision. He said camp leadership monitored late-night flood warnings but failed to move children out of low-lying cabins.

Johnston argued that young campers cannot be expected to recognize a fast-developing, life-threatening danger or organize an evacuation without sufficient adult direction. He concluded that Camp Mystic LLC was aware of, and consciously disregarded, a substantial and unjustifiable risk of death to the children in its care.

Twenty-five campers and two teenage counselors died when the Guadalupe River surged over its banks before dawn on 4 July 2025. Camp owner Richard Eastland also died. The overall flooding along the river killed at least 136 people. The camp did not reopen this year and has filed for bankruptcy reorganization.

Attorneys for victims' families welcomed the warrants but said they should never have been necessary, saying they had spent over a year seeking accountability and answers from the Eastland family. One victim's body has still not been recovered. Several members of the Eastland family and other camp officials declined interview requests from investigators, though they have previously testified in court and before the state legislature, with the camp's director offering a tearful apology.